A dedication to music's sweaty past and a tribute to its bold future. Music... The holy grail, the last leap from the ledge, the beating heart of the collective consciousness, a call to arms-a call to ears-music lovers of the world unite. Break the chains of wax in your blocked canals and let your heart rediscover the tribal bliss that is part of your human heritage - the kind of bliss achieved by rhythm, vibrations and beats.

This weekend the Bob Marley, Messenger exhibit begins its transient stop at HistoryMiami before it settles at the Bob Marley Museum in the artist’s homeland Jamaica. The exhibit debuted at The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on May 11, 2011, the 30th anniversary of the reggae ambassador’s untimely death from cancer at the age of 36.

The display includes rare on and offstage photographs, Marley’s famous Gibson Les Paul guitar, his bible, concert posters, backstage passes, tour books, an interactive drumming station and more. There is also a South Florida video supplement that includes local reggae band Jahfe, Miami artist TREK6, who created a Bob Marley mural, former Coral Springs Mayor Roy Gold, author and playwright Geoffrey Philp, and Lorna Owens, the Registered Nurse who cared for Bob Marley while he was at Cedars of Lebanon (now University of Miami Hospital).

“The exhibit came about because Ziggy did a children’s program for us and when it was done, he said he had photos that no one had seen of his dad and wondered if we would consider doing a photo exhibit,” said Kait Stuebner, The Grammy Museum’s Co-Curator of the Bob Marley, Messenger exhibit. “We decided to do a full exhibit, working closely with the family who were the other curation team on the project.”

“As soon as I heard they were developing the Marley exhibit I started lobbying for it,” emailed Hyppolite. “I also went to the L.A. opening to see it for myself and knew then that we had to have it. We decided we wanted to make a South Florida connection to Marley in the exhibition and that’s how we came up with the idea of adding a video testimony.”

Bob Marley’s story mirrors the lives of many South Florida immigrants whose homelands are ravaged by poverty and political oppression. He spent part of his life creating music in Jamaica’s Trench Town, a Kingston enclave where squalor and social resistance birthed a musical genre for ghetto people worldwide (reggae).

“When I went to Bob’s rehearsals in North Miami, the man was all business,” said Earl Marks Sr. also known as Burning Spear, a deejay from Hanover, Jamaica, who spun throughout South Florida between 1975 and 1985. “Not even his wife Rita could make a joke when he was ready to work.”

Twenty years ago, when alternative music was breaking into wider public awareness thanks in most part to the success of Nirvana’s Nevermind, The Breeders broke through on their own with Last Splash. Kim Deal, Kelley Deal, Josephine Wiggs, and Jim Macpherson played their first show together on Friday June 19, 1992, in a snooker hall behind Warrington Rugby Club in the north of England, near Manchester. Just days later they supported Nirvana in Dublin and Belfast, and then played at Glastonbury. Back in the US, after playing 27 sold-out shows that fall, they made their way to San Francisco to record the epic Last Splash.

Released August 30, 1993, on 4AD, reviewers described Last Splash as “effervescent,” “blistering,” and “incoherent.” At its center is the infectiously appealing, instantly recognizable “Cannonball.” Propelled in part by the video directed by Kim Gordon and Spike Jonze, the song was voted Single of the Year by the NME. After more than two years of touring, they played their last show on September 5th, 1994, at Lollapalooza in Los Angeles.

On Wednesday October 9th, the Bredders graced the stage at Grand Central in downtown Miami. The minute Kim and Co. took the stage they had us in the palm of their hand and would not let go. Kim and Kelley’s power chords and distorted dissonance shot the crowed into romper room like frenzy. The band did a brilliant job recreating the seminal album on stage in what was an intimate show, which was well-suited to the material.

I have been to many anniversary-style shows over the years, but this could have possibly been the most literal, with quite an attention to detail, history, and nuance. Bassist Josephine Wiggs took over on drums for one of the songs, and snapped a photo of the crowd, which would later be posted on their Twitter account.

Sigur Ros makes absolutely brilliant noise coupled
with dazzling visuals. Since the ’90s, Sigur Ros has built a reputation for being one of the most unique bands around, especially with lead singer Jonsi, with meznerizing vocals sings in a made-up language called Hopelandic. The band has consistently sold albums in the US, despite the fact that their music is rarely sung in English and its songs have unpronounceable song titles.

You’d think having such exotic textures and song structures was enough to distinguish them from other bands, but they went on to construct a live show that borders on amazing performance art. There were upwards of 50 incandescent bulbs on poles, attached to microphone stands scattered throughout the stage — glowing, flickering, pulsing along to the music. A giant LED screen played montages of images familiar to those who have seen Sigur Ros music videos. Three violinists and horn players in the background and two percussionists on both of the stage, the band on this night was 11 members strong. The musicians remained shadowy, dimly figures for the majority of the show, with an occasional burst of floating, lights illuminating them. Each band member solidly and brilliantly in complete control of his instrument.

There were several standing ovations from the energetic crowd and well deserved for an amazingly beautiful theatrical and musical experience.